“Morning people”, who are more alert early in the day, are more likely to cheat and behave unethically in the night hours, researchers say.

Psychologists found that early-rising “larks” and late-night “owls” had different levels of honesty depending on the time of day.

The study found a link between ethical choices and such internal clocks.

Sunita Sah, research fellow at Harvard University in the US, said this had “implications for workplaces”.

The research examined the behaviour of almost 200 people – with the subjects taking part in problem-solving tests and games without realising that it was their honesty that was being measured.

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The research was carried out by academics at US universities – Johns Hopkins University and the University of Washington, and Prof Sah is an assistant professor of business ethics at Georgetown University as well as a research fellow at Harvard.